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Ravens safety Ed Reed came out of center field as the Bengals’ Bernard Scott turned the left corner.

Reed seemingly had him square in his sights.

But as Scott lowered his shoulder for impact, Reed’s arm tackle didn’t slow the running back down. He scampered in for a 25-yard touchdown that cut the Ravens’ 14-point, third-quarter lead in half.

The play led to a question about whether Reed’s missed tackle was due to injury during Head Coach John Harbaugh’s Monday press conference.

After the game, Reed said the nerve impingement in his neck isn’t as much a problem as his shoulder. But that wasn’t the factor on the missed tackle on Scott.

“On that particular play, when I hit the guy and bounced off, it was just a bad angle,” Reed said. “I can’t do that. I understand that. I’m just as hard a critic as anybody. Just got to have better angles.”

Harbaugh pointed to Reed’s contribution in pass coverage, saying the Ravens were excellent in the secondary against the Bengals and “that starts with Ed Reed.”

Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton had 232 passing yards compared to 373 in his last meeting with the Ravens, and he had Pro Bowl wide receiver A.J. Green this time.

“Ed covered up a couple things that happened on some of those play-action downfield routes,” Harbaugh said. “He covered some of those guys down the field one-on-one. That’s a pretty tough task for a safety to do that. Believe me, Ed Reed is carrying more than his weight.”

The Pro Bowler finished with 52 tackles, the most he’s had in a season since 2006. He had one sack and one forced fumble on the same play against New York Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez in Week 4. He also had two interceptions in Week 1.

Defensive Coordinator Chuck Pagano said last week that while Reed’s stats are down, he is still having an impact because he’s taking away the deep middle of the field from opponents. They are staying away from him and taking shots down the sidelines, Pagano said.

Harbaugh echoed that sentiment.

“I guarantee the people that are playing against him, they know where he’s at back there,” Harbaugh said. “As far as [the tackling], he’ll address that. He’s been around, he knows how to play and he’ll take care of that.”